The present disclosure relates generally to a press machine and more particularly to a safety power assist for a manual press.
Metal working presses are well known in the industry. Traditional fluid or electric motor actuated presses employ complicated optical sensors or light curtains adjacent a punch to stop punch advancement if a machine operator's finger or hand obstructs the optical path. One such traditional optical safety system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,114,690 entitled “Light-Controlled Safety Switch for a Punch Press” which issued to Oei et al. on Feb. 5, 2000, and is incorporated by reference herein. Such conventional optical safety systems are very expensive and are prone to false obstruction detections due to common workplace dirt and contamination.
Another conventional approach is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,114,436 entitled “Safety Interlock and Retraction Mechanism for Clinching, Crimping, and Punching Presses” which issued to Mueller on Oct. 3, 2006. This patent is incorporated by reference herein. This traditional device employs a foot-operated pneumatic valve to activate pneumatic cylinders of a safety interlock and retraction mechanism. Full force actuation of the press is prohibited unless a predetermined thickness range of desired work material is placed between a punch and die of the press. This conventional device, however, adds undesired complexity and expense for a solely automatically actuated device.
In accordance with the present invention, a safety power assist for a manual press is provided. In another aspect, a press includes a tool, a manual actuator, a switch and an automatically powered actuator. A further aspect of the present press employs a spring which must be compressed beyond a predetermined pinching force before a switch is activated, where switch activation causes an automatically powered actuator to advance a workpiece-contacting punch or tool. Another aspect of the present press includes a wall with multiple holes, and a pin which is removeably insertable into at least one of the holes to adjustably limit retracted movement of a tool to provide shorter cycle times between repeated tool advancements as compared to if the pin was not inserted. A method of operating a press is also provided.
The press of the present system is advantageous over traditional press safety devices. For example, the present press does not employ an optical or a light obstruction detector, but instead uses a mechanical pinching arrangement which allows the machine operator to manually stop and reverse movement of the tool prior to automatic advancing movement of the tool. This present construction is significantly less expensive than prior safety systems, considerably more durable and robust in a dirty manufacturing environment, and is not prone to false obstacle detection. Additional advantages and features of the present press can be ascertained from the following description and claims, as well as the appended drawings.